Department of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany.
Eur Addict Res. 2011;17(4):217-24. doi: 10.1159/000327775. Epub 2011 May 24.
The aim of this study was to assess the severity of dependence as a factor affecting the attentional bias of smokers towards smoking-related stimuli and to clarify contradictory results of previous studies. A visual dot probe task was administered to 51 smokers and 41 nonsmokers to assess the attentional bias. Smokers were classified into a group of less severely dependent and a group of more severely dependent smokers according to the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence, the number of cigarettes smoked per day or the CO concentration in the expired air. Nicotine craving was assessed as well. The more severely dependent smokers displayed an attentional bias towards smoking-related stimuli, while smokers with less severe nicotine dependence showed a negative attentional bias which was also observed in nonsmokers. A multiple linear regression indicated that CO concentration was the only significant predictor of attentional bias. In the total group of smokers we found a positive association between attentional bias and craving for the rewarding effects of nicotine. Future studies are warranted to further enhance our understanding of factors that affect attentional bias as appetitive responses towards smoking-related stimuli might be an important target for therapeutic interventions.
本研究旨在评估依赖程度作为影响吸烟者对吸烟相关刺激的注意力偏向的因素的严重程度，并澄清先前研究的矛盾结果。对 51 名吸烟者和 41 名非吸烟者进行了视觉点探测任务，以评估注意力偏向。根据尼古丁依赖程度的 Fagerström 测试、每天吸烟的数量或呼出空气中的 CO 浓度，将吸烟者分为依赖性较低的组和依赖性较高的组。同时评估了尼古丁渴求。依赖性较高的吸烟者对吸烟相关刺激表现出注意力偏向，而依赖性较轻的吸烟者则表现出负性注意力偏向，这种情况在非吸烟者中也观察到。多元线性回归表明，CO 浓度是注意力偏向的唯一显著预测因子。在总吸烟人群中，我们发现注意力偏向与对尼古丁奖赏效应的渴求之间存在正相关。未来的研究有必要进一步增强我们对影响注意力偏向的因素的理解，因为对吸烟相关刺激的渴望可能是治疗干预的一个重要目标。
